THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

Karmacat

Interesting question! But Cappella, please don't beat yourself up like that! Of course you react to what you see in your immediate environment. The majority of people aren't invested in their local area - it's just not there.



Round here, there *are* a couple of communities, if you look hard - young fit pensioners/ disabled people in electric wheelchairs/ families they all mostly fit together, but when you get what we call the scallies in Liverpool - the ones the police make a beeline for when there's any trouble, and its the girls as well these days - they'd be a problem if it was anything to do with actual *need*, as opposed to a bit of fun. Though there's no serious crime problem in this town.



On the other side of the local stream is the village whose horticultural society I just joined - it would work there, but I think you're probably thinking too big - its half a dozen people or so, that would work. Larry Niven describes exactly that in Fallen Angels, in Footfall, one of his *other* cheerily apocalyptic science fiction novels he calls it a Stone Soup: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Soup. I love Larry Niven

Karmacat

Prepstering indoors after working a couple of square feet of garden I decided to check exactly what I'd stashed behind the books in the living room :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: it turns out I have quite a lot of beetroot :rotfl: so much so that I'm going to amend tomorrow's supermarket order to get more black olives and pickled onions, for variety There's also quite a few empty kilner and other jars, good for storing dehydrated foods.

melodramaticme

I believe Stone Soup is a traditional folk tale. I know of a dramatised version that is often performed by junior theatre groups.

GreyQueen

In the hour or so since my shift ended, I walked several city centre streets. I nipped into two shops where the proprietors are pals, for a quick chat. I was then approached by a visitor to the city who was trying to get to a particular landmark via the most picturesque route and spent 5 mins chatting to and directing her (walked about 100 m with her to amake sure she didn't go astray).


Then I came around a blind corner by the block and was confronted by two injecting drug users. If I'd known they were shooting up, I'd've gone another route. As it was, I made no eye contact and sidled by, sandalled toes cringing at the threat of discarded needles. I, or SG, will check later and probably send a form to the council to get the detritus and sharps picked up by the environmental health team. If we're really lucky, the gear won't cause them to suddenly void their bowels, in which case they'll be that on the ground along with the feelthy undercrackers which they used to wipe themselves off with.:eek: And yes, that's happened several times before!

I may go up to the chippy in the neighbourhood later, where the owners know my name and always stop to chat. Or I may go to Little Mr T, which is my neighbourhood store, where several of the cashiers are friendly and chatty, and others who have been there as long give no indication that they've ever seen me before and I'm in there every 1-2 days for many many years.:rotfl:

So, life in the middle of a middling-sized English city in the 21st century. Some community, some strangers good and some strangers bad.

Petrolhead4

I would like to think that could happen MrsL as it's a lovely (and common sense) idea. The saddest thing is, I'm not sure many people would actually pluck up the courage to say "I'm struggling to put a full meal together - shall we all club together?" They'd be more likely to keep quiet and have half a meal. If one brave soul did ask, I'm sure the vast majority would go for it.

Cappella

Thank GQ and Karmacat. I now feel that perhaps I'm not turning into my obnoxious brother in law after all:) I was beginning to sound so like him it was really worrying me. I've got a lot of friends here still, and a lot of acquaintances who stunned me after the little bit of heart trouble three years ago by sending cards and flowers. I'll focus on that in future, and like GQ avert my eyes when I can to the other sad facts of city living.

Although as I've now just accidentally thrown Larry Niven's Footfall into the one click Am***n basket I'm not sure I should be thanking you Karmacat :) It's one I don't ever remember reading so it just had to be found. And there it was, shouting buy me, buy me!!
Now it's shouting 'read me, read me!!' So I'm going to put the kettle on and settle down for a well earned reading marathon.

Melodramaticme - yes it was a folk tale

[Deleted User]

No one is horrible in any way, you're all lovely! I think it might work here although we may have a very eclectic collection of goods donated to our stew pot and we're really the only ones who garden but many have allotments and that's where there is community and that's where it would be easiest to make best use of the crops we all grow. I'd happily give to folks who were hungry if there was enough to spare from what was given for the communal pot though even if they hadn't contributed.

DigForVictory

My father taught me to cook stone soup when I was young. I can still make a dashed good veg soup, and I add (or not bother with) a stone depending on how sarky my sons (or scouts) are being.

I do like this lucky iron fish which when I bought mine, was a buy one, have one shipped to a third world country free. That goes to scout camps too - and the veggie contingent have the fact that they are eating "lucky fish" soup explained carefully so that they do not violate any of their dietary principles.
Mostly as it's a lot easier to have a pretty metal fish in the cookpot than a stonking great nail, although the chemistry works out the same if you have correctly chosen your nail.

I think allotment soup would be a wonderful thing, and in that environment would probably thrive.

Karmacat

Sorry about the purchase, Cappella!

Loving the iron fish, DfV I've heard of using an iron nail jammed into an apple, but I like the fish much more.

And GQ, my word, that's quite something.

nannywindow

Hello all

Today I have been helping DH take out the front of our shed and rebuild it. Prepping of a sort, as there are a lot of power and hand tools in there, which need safeguarding from the elements ( and marauders ) and which could be invaluable in the future . Tomorrow we attack the roof ready for a new one, that's if we can move because we are both aching from head to foot :eek:. This shed is turning out to be like Triggers broom :rotfl:.
I don't know if a communal meal would work here either, as we have a mixture of newbies ( some of which would rather look the other way when you pass ) and some are elderly housebound ( 4 of them, all over 90yrs ). So out of 16 houses I think only 8 would try to get a meal together and take care of the elderly ones. Of course if push came to shove, I could be totally incorrect and everyone would pull together.